About the Arcane School

The word went forth to all the sons of men, the Sons of God: Shew forth the signature of God. Leave this High Place and, in the outer realm of darkness, toil and serve; bring forth the Real; unveil the hidden depths of light. Reveal divinity.

Thus down the ages have the sons of men, who are the Sons of God, embodied in themselves the Light which shines, the Strength which lifts and serves, the Love that evermore endures. They walked the Way of purity, the Way into the innermost. We follow after. They served their time. We seek to do the same.                                         (The Old Commentary)

                       

The Arcane School trains people in meditation and service to develop their spiritual potential. The purpose of such training is to help students understand and accept discipleship responsibility and to recognise the part that they can play in the evolution of consciousness by serving humanity.

The School assists spiritual aspirants to move forward on to the path of discipleship, and assists those who are already on the path to move on more quickly to achieve greater effectiveness in service.

Disciples are those who, above all else, are pledged to do three things:

  • To serve humanity.
  • To co-operate with the Plan, as they see it and as best they can.
  • To develop the powers of the soul, to expand their consciousness to that of the higher self and to meet the needs of that higher self through service.

Discipleship is a word in constant use among spiritual aspirants of the world, both of the East and the West.  It is the stage of evolution in which men and women knowingly pledge themselves to consciously and joyfully fulfil the requirements of the soul which operates under the Law of Love and knows no separation.   To achieve this they choose to submit themselves to a sequential course of meditation and study which produces a rapid unfoldment of the power and the life of the soul.

The training has three fundamental requirements, meditation, study and service to humanity. Those who voluntarily undertake this self-training in the science of the soul are noted for their sincerity of purpose, purity of motive and persistence in the face of all obstacles and difficulties. The training which is sequential and progressive naturally eliminates those who are unready and those who are unwilling to make the needed effort and adjustments in their daily life.  The Arcane School is a place of training that requires determination and commitment.

The emerging energies of the Aquarian Age lend themselves to group work and the School’s training given in group formation follows a technique that will characterise discipleship service as we progress further into this dispensation. Students are located throughout the world and may never meet or know each other; however they work together in group meditation and study helping to precipitate the ideas on which the new civilisation and culture will be founded. The school is therefore an experiment in group consciousness, one which brings the student into the subjective worlds enabling them to enter the world of energies and forces which lie behind form and events.

The Arcane School is primarily a distance learning course.  Students are guided through the meditations and course materials by the headquarters groups in London, New York and Geneva. In addition, each student is allocated a Secretary, a fellow student who is further ahead in the training and who will support and advise them through the early years of the course. All students are encouraged to think, meditate and search out the truth for themselves according to their own need and understanding, learning through acquired spiritual independence the significance of interdependence in group work.

The Arcane School respects the right of students to hold their own views and beliefs, acknowledging that the only true spiritual authority is that of the student’s own soul. The materials used in the lesson sets are drawn from a variety of spiritual sources, as well as the esoteric philosophy revealed in the books of Alice Bailey.  The knowledge, insight and wisdom, and the capacity to wield spiritual energy resulting from the training with the Arcane School, is intended to be expressed and applied in daily service. Disciples strive to manifest the Plan on earth and aid in solving the problems that humanity faces.

The School was established in 1923 by Alice Bailey to help meet an obvious and growing demand for training in the science of the soul. Since then tens of thousands of students have taken advantage of this training. Students are spread throughout the world with the headquarters in New York serving those living in North America, Canada and Asia as well as students in North and South America working in Spanish. The London headquarters serves students in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth as well as students who wish to study in English from Europe and Africa. It also serves students working in the Greek language. The Geneva school works with students in all the main European languages (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian).

No charges are made by the School for its services. The work is financed through the Lucis Trust by the voluntary contributions of students and those interested in the work of the School and in the teaching. Each gives according to personal circumstances.